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Our print deadline to have all the expansion content 100% ready for delivery is the first week of march, which is when the factories in china resume working after their Chinese new year. Until that content loaded hard drive is handed off, our internal team is laser focused. The pledge manager is closed, we will not be putting up any resin sales and If you wrote me a message, I will get back to you after this push.

The Dragon King Armor kit is finished, as is the Gorm Armor kit. The Spider Silk armor kit needed a revision, as the legs join was too large and it didn't fit in any chest sockets. I am waiting on a package to confirm that was adjusted. (Should arrive this week). At this point, the spider silk armor kit is the last loose end. Everything else is finished, approved and production of it has been finished. (Or is closed to finished, its hard to know exactly without being there).

This project is massive. The plastic side of it has totaled nearly 5 x 40' containers of injected sprue. Currently myself, the printing company and the plastic manufacturer are working out logistics and strategy to ensure the safe delivery from one factory to the other. Its not very far, but packing lists must be complete, checked and verified.

The storm of activity and details is getting much heavier as we approach the end. If things go smoothly we should be loading up cargo boats by may or june.

Two years ago, the Kingdom Death: Monster campaign was launched. Our humble project was met with such enthusiasm and support, it pushed our ambitions into the stratosphere!

Before I really get into it, let me just cover the major highlights in summary form.

Official Fulfillment is TBA. Estimated Summer 2015.

International backers should expect packages shipped from the United States. For legal reasons, it cannot be marked as a gift.

There is a possibility EU backers will have their rewards shipped from within the EU. Do not expect it and do not count on it. This all boils down to logistics, budget, and liability which cannot be finalized yet.

Only 4 kits remain to be tooled by the plastic manufacturer!

It’s Black Friday, many things in the store are 50% off and we have taking pre-orders for an encore run of the very popular Satan miniature(s).

Black Friday 2014 Last Chance Backers Welcome!

Just like last year, we are honoring black friday by opening the door and allowing late backers into the fold. I was very mixed coming to this decision, as I feel that you backers are sacred and should be taken care of. It wasn’t the emails from fans begging to be part of the project, nor the ones asking me questions about “piggybacking” a practice I am sorry but we cannot officially support. Rather it was the kind and very genuine emails from fans patiently awaiting the public release, knowing full well that the final price is much higher than what we kickstarted it for.

It is for those patient and understanding fans, that I have decided to make an exception for black friday. They are just excited, have grabbed whatever resin miniatures they could, and have stated they are happy to pay our final retail price! Please come on board now, while we are still mid-production so I can offer you some of the benefits our current backers have. Granted, the pledge rates for things have increased since we pitched, the shift to hard plastic was brutal on the budget.

We have 3 black friday packages and they are based on the current pledge manager rates. If you you were looking to show your support while we are still mid-production, now is the time.

Plastic Production Info

Here is an updated plastic production list:

There are currently 5 kits still being worked on.

Dragon Armor Kit, tooling complete samples in the mail.

Silk Armor Kit, currently being tooled.

Gorm Armor Kit, currently being tooled.

Sunstalker Armor Kit, Currently being tooled.

Green Knight Kit, Currently being tooled.

The contents of the core game and the survivor level rewards all need to be boxed and packaged. We are still working out the details, but it looks like this process will take a team of 10 people around 1.5 months.

Paper Production Info

We have the proofs for all the cards, the game boards, the tokens, everything except the game box itself which might need some final size adjustments.

Our current drop dead delivery date on all the expansions to the printer is end of Feb. The printer is pushing us for the end of Jan, but I am currently unsure. There is so much content, and I need to ensure that our internal team here, delivers the best possible version for mass production.

The printer did a fantastic job! I also sprung for the more expensive matte coating, instead of the aqueous coating you normally see on game cards. It really supports the art and it gives all the cards this wonderful physical feel.

Holding the rulebook feels magical. This is just a print proof / sample, but everything came out so incredibly nice. I don’t think I’ve ever held a game book that has this much art in it. Perhaps I went a little overboard? lol

Miniatures

Here are the hard plastic miniatures!

With this, all the core game miniatures have been finished, approved and are currently in production! YAY! I also screwed up on the Phoenix Kit and put x6 of PK21. It went into production, so I guess we can all enjoy 6 handless Sonic Tomahawks, instead of the planned 1!

The Dragon King is utterly huge and mesmerizing. The hard plastic version is nearly identical to the original resin version. The process of scanning and cleaning really seems to lend itself well to large monsters.

The Dragon King Human form turned out great! It is actually the personal favorite of our Project manager at the plastic factory. The Dragon People come with an extra pair of armor kit compatible heads, and their hands are also armor kit compatible.

Playing with the Spidicules is really cool. Unlike every other monster thus far, the monster has no “base”. Instead you use can either use a 2x2 square shadow token or place its downward facing hands in the center of 4 squares, to indicate where the spider’s main body is. The Spidicules showdown has been the studio favorite. I’ll get more into detail about it next time. Oh yeah, we also added 6 spidering miniatures to the expansion!

Lonely Tree Upgrade

Yeah so… this was originally going to be just a tree, with a few cards that modified a couple of fights. Buuutt… I figured what the hell, so we went in, made it so the Lonely Tree is actually a battle with its own Hit Location / AI deck and also includes a special Lonely Muse Miniature, along with some story events to support the small campaign arc!

Man Hunter

We scaled the Man Hunter miniautre up a tiny bit. And we really added a ton to the expansion! Next time I'll share a little about how the Man Hunter expansion can improve your hunt phase, making tracking down difficult targets a little bit easier. This was our play testers top request, so we were thrilled to make it happen in a way that made sense.

Dung Beetle Knight

My personal favorite! The DBK has been scaled up and the pair of survivors wearing the rolling armor turned out great! Hector Moran, actually cleaned up the scan data of the this hand sculpted knight monster. We very much on purpose made the effect of its carapace much more pronounced so that it would be nice and crisp for the hard plastic incarnation. The Shoulder pads and leg pads features on the rolling armored survivors are hollow underneath. This allows for a lot more freedom placing them on other armor kits.

Schedule and Fulfillment

Black friday, for me, is the only day that is the exception for all exceptions. From the very place I sit right now (on my mom's couch!), the kickstarter was launched and my vision for the most insane and ambitious tabletop game I could conjure up was set into motion. Never did I expect my humble idea to capture the interest of so many people and for it to bloom into what is now, a truly massive experience with a score of content-packed expansions!

So for once a year, I will share my earnest opinion rather than hard facts on where we are. Over the course of communicating with everyone in the last 2 years, this is something I've learned to be a big no-no... but screw it!

Based on the estimate from the plastic factory, production of the core game, the survivor level pledge box, and all the expansions will be finished in a month and a half. Then all of this will be shipped over to the factory that is handling our paper printing needs (boxes, cards, rulebooks etc). This means that everything will be all ready to go... just in time for Chinese new year. During the Chinese New Year, all of the factories are closed. Usually it lasts about a month as people travel to see their loved ones and then travel back to work and the factories wind up again.

Our internal schedule is simple. We will work like crazy the rest of November, December, January and February, to get all of the content in the expansions to the same polished level the core game currently is. Up until the very last day, I will cram in as much artwork, content, and love into everything. Starting March, printing of all the expansions will begin, with final proofs estimated to be on their way to us in may. If things look good, then it all gets packed into containers and loaded onto a boat. At that point, its 4-7 weeks away from the containers arriving at our door, wherein we will unpack and begin fulfillment. Leaving us looking at... June or July 2015.

I know... I know. This seems insane. How could all of this possibly take so long?! Dear backers, I really hope that sharing this entire process and the roller coaster that it has been sheds some light on that. The over funding lead to a tremendous amount more content then we pitched, swapping to hard plastic and ensuring that it came out right was... just a task that I couldn't even fathom how massive it would be. Finally, play testing, polishing, writing clean rules, and making sure the experience was as fun and rewarding as the vision intended, was yet another huge challenge.

All of it has been awesome. And more and more I find myself wishing I had the extra time so I could actually attempt my own run of the core campaign. The game has such a tremendous variability I am really curious to see how my settlement and survivors might evolve! It really forces you to think, as going into the game with a straight "yolo" attitude has resulted in a campaign wipe every time.

You Backers

You guys are the best. Finishing the project to the absolute best the team can offer is certainly something each one of us wants, craves, and needs. But underlying that almost visceral feeling is the desire to bring something to all of you that will give you the utmost joy and pride for being a part of it. Well that is, until you start playing it and it crushes you! lol

Seriously tho. None of this would have happened without you guys. Kingdom Death would have never made it this far. We never would have stretched towards (what I am being told) creating some of the best hard plastic kits the industry has ever seen. Nor would I have been so driven to make sure the vision for the world, the stories told between the gear, cards, resources and story events of the campaigns, were as polished and complete as they have turned out to be.

This truly is a once in a lifetime project. And I can honestly say, I have given this my all. And I am more then ready for our last 3 month sprint at the end of this very long marathon.

So thank you. Thank you all so very much!

We can see the lantern light at the end of this long tunnel, leading us to a bounty of hard plastic miniatures and the start of your journey into Kingdom Death.

ATTENTION! LAST UPDATE BEING POSTED AS BACKER ONLY WAS AN ACCIDENT. IF YOU MISSED THE CONTENT, HERE IS WHAT IT SAID:

"Allright!

So this time around I don't have any "milestone" progress to share. It's a vacation week over in china, so we won't have new plastic to share just yet. So I decided to keep it a bit more toned down and have added the first Sacred Backer time post over on the KD Blog.

The PVC Lion god turned out well detail wise, tho I admit its insanely hard to assemble. The joins ended up being pretty severe since PVC tends to warp each piece differently. The hard plastic lion was scaled up from the original resin version and does assemble MUCH more easily and cleanly then either the resin or PVC version. The creature is on a 100mm base here, so he is rather large!

This update is going to be a combination of Sacred Backer time and a kickstarter update. Just so happened plastics arrived just at the right time.

Sharing Today

It was a busy day! The first round of color proofs arrived and we divided the tasks of checking everything amongst the team here. This round was to ensure the colors matched what the designs intended and they were not printed on their final stock or given the matte coating everything will have. The settlement locations were a big hit!

I am happy to report that the black on black effect looks great for the gear grids! However on the monster control panel the design is not quite as “bold” and I will have to adjust the contrast to make things readable.

Deck OrganizersNot sure I've actually shared these yet. Each deck comes with divider to make your life of managing all the cards easier. Since a monster generally has 4 decks, they get a single divider that lists everything they have.

The rulebook itself is around 70 gigs of data. I am confident to report that the game language is very consistent, the glossary terms are accurate and last but not least, the pages are all in the right order! There are… (counting)…60 full pages pieces of art (not including the comic which is 28 pages) and around 100 unique smaller pieces of art scattered throughout the book.

After checking the rough proofs and the current color proofs we made the final adjustments, tweaks and updates and here it is!
The final print revisions, being shipped out tomorrow to the printer! If your curious here is a list of the changes for what we are internally calling version 1.2

Gear Cards
- First Aid Kit, overhauled. +3 Survival to all survivors at start of showdown, you ignore disembowled.
- Scavenger Kit, updated to be unique and give 1 basic or monster resource.
- Leather Shield, updated block 1 to works as intended.
- Beacon Shield, updated block 2 to works as intended.
- Scrap Sword, moved art, was clipping into keywords.

Rulebook
- Game Over Page, updated text so it does not break the game.
- Glossary, updated rules for block.
- Glossary, destroy armor was updated
- Replaced instances of armor levels with armor points.
- Table of contents updated, story event entries now point you to the rules side and not the art side of the spread.

Monster Control Panel
- Contrast increased, is currently too hard to read.

Production Update

Screaming Fur Armor is complete! Here are some photos of the assembled kits. The screaming fur kit is where all the rare gear in the game lives. The armor kit compatible butchers cleavers, lantern halberd etc.

The Lion God is also finished. Here are some photos showing off its grand and bizarre majesty!

Here is a little teaser from the Lion Gods, expanded Expansion. Upon defeating the monster, your survivors will encounter a strange parasite that calls itself the "Necromancer"! Perhaps they should take it home with them...?

Factory NewsThe factory has finished the Dung Beetle Knight, the leather armor set and the phoenix armor set. I do not have them in hand yet, so I cannot check them and strike them from the list. The man-hunter and the white lion kit are currently getting finished up and I just approved the layout for spidicules. I think the layout for the dragon king is next. I fear how many sprues that is going to be.

Last Sacred Backer Update Question:"In regards to tabletop miniature gaming, which gameplay element do you feel is the most important and why?"

It was really interesting to read everyone's response to my question. If I were to answer based on all the very solid and very different responses I received, I would say the most important gameplay aspect is to have fun, in the way you like to have fun. While that answer sort of embodies, the spirit and the definition of the word "play", it is a mere observation seeing just how important very different aspects of the "game" and "play" experience can mean to people.

However, I will share my own unique perspective as both a gamer and creator. In specific to tabletop miniature gaming, I would say the most important gameplay element is movement. First and foremost, we are talking about a tabletop miniature game, so actors/pieces within this game all have a physical representation. Looking at some ancient games like GO or Mancala, it tells me that physical pieces, how you move them and where they are placed is a very fundamental part of gaming around a tabletop. We could increase the scope a little more and say that even card games as where they cards are, their placement if you will, are generally the foundation of the game. But, lets not go that far, I'll focus back in on specifically miniature tabletop games.

Movement is generally the only time you physically touch your miniature. So its when you are most connected with your gaming piece and most often will have a change of state.

Movement and placement is the heart and soul of any good tabletop miniature strategy game. If its not, then the game will feel very static and you'll begin to wonder why you have miniatures at all. Why would we play a game on a huge table... when nothing on it moves. Or worse yet, the rules that govern movement are difficult / unsatisfying to us personally.

My theory is that the better and more satisfying the movement rules are, the better a miniature tabletop game will be. I won't use the word intuitive, since thats more like one of those dreaded gaming buzz words these days. What is intuitive to one individual may or may not be to another. The best you can do, is build solid rules that layer well without requiring too much back and forth in a game book to learn. Tabletop miniatures are usually quite complex, much more so then candy land where you move along a single track. Part of the enjoyment is the flexibility and in the moment developments that can happen. But when it takes either too much deliberation or research to determine the outcome of something exciting... it goes from fun to frustrating and finally to boring.

Did we perfect movement in Kingdom Death: Monster? Heh, surely not. However we did keep these fundamental ideals close as we developed, broke, repaired and polished the game system and its many automated monster fights. There is a lot of movement in the game, and its a rare turn that passes where you won't think about how best to take advantage of moving in some way or another.

After all, we are not playing whack a mole. Although if we were, we could use a much smaller game board!!!

Much like last time, I will leave everyone with another question!

Are you more of a hobbyist or more of a gamer? And why do you think that is?

KD Store!
We released some new stuff on the store! Of the new releases only the Great Game Hunter Rogue is left. This is a resin collectors edition, so there are no game rules / content and if you have never worked with resin before, he is a pretty simple character to put together.

Lol, its now 12:30am!

I gotta get on the call with the factory now, I will however keep my eye on the comments until around 4am or so when I need to pass out. See you again in 2 weeks!!

P.S. This has not been spell checked, proof read, or even reread by me for the sake of speed.